Part One.

Sanjiv noticed the subtle change in demeanor, and for one panicked moment was worried that he’d stepped on the emotional landmine of a recently deceased pet.

“I just don’t have the time. My job is… demanding. I figured it’s a bad idea to get a cat if you already feel like you’re herding them.”

“Ha!” Sanjiv laughed so hard that Maanav dropped his melon. “That is a pretty vivid insight into your work life. And, actually…”

He glanced at the nearby barn, and saw that the employee he’d been chatting with earlier was still on duty there. Perfect.

“If you like cats, then there’s something in the barn that you have just got to see.”

Sanjiv held Maanav up in front of his face. “And you definitely can’t come,” he told the shaggy ball of orange fur. After a moment’s hesitation, he kissed the guinea pig’s fuzzy little head and deposited him in a pile of vegetables. The end of a beautiful partnership.

“These technically aren’t a part of the petting zoo. They’re actually the owner’s pets. But they are ridiculously cute,” he said, gesturing for Cressida to follow.

Cressida was slightly worried as to what sort of pets they were, if Maanav couldn’t come. To her, that implied predator. Which would be a little out of place in a petting zoo.

As they crossed the threshold into the barn, Sanjiv nodded at the employee who’d shown him the creatures earlier in the day after a bit of small talk had turned into a prolonged conversation. The employee nodded back, and Sanjiv took the acknowledgement as permission to slide open one of the larger doors. They were immediately greeted by a chorus of chirping meows as a dozen tiny heads swiveled in their direction, and soon the army was upon them.

Cressida managed an ‘eeek’ before finding herself under a tidal wave of fluff, pounce, and high-pitched enthusiasm.  Twelve–no, thirteen–fuzzy, pint-sized creatures hurled themselves at her shins with the unrelenting energy of caffeine-fueled toddlers in fur coats. One decided to enter an epic battle with her left boot, while another was halfway up her leg, meowing triumphantly like it had just summited Everest.

“I have regrets,” Cressida announced to no one in particular, mostly because both Sanjiv and the other employee were too busy laughing.

“They’re a cross breed of a Capellan power-cat and a Tika cat,” he explained. The tired-looking Tika cat mother–about the size of a cheetah–blinked slowly at them, unperturbed by their presence. Sanjiv sat down and reached for the nearest kitten. It rubbed against his hand, and though he flinched from the initial static shock, he quickly began petting it in earnest. “The bad news is that they’re too young to control their electric impulses. The good news is that they’re too young to generate much of one.”

“Sounds… wildly illegal,” Cressida remarked, but didn’t seem to care all that much. Mostly because she was too busy trying to pick kittens out of her hood.

“Pfft, probably,” said Sanjiv, whose hand was engaged in an epic wrestling match with one of the kittens. “That’s certainly why I declined the owner’s offer to sell me one, even though my friend Saffiya had mentioned wanting a cat. And besides that, I think they’re supposed to get rather large.”

The mention of the name “Saffiya” had Cressida perk up. “Is that Captain Saffiya Nassar?” she asked, trying to figure out how an employee of a petting zoo would possibly know about her.

“Hmm?” said Sanjiv innocently, as he belatedly recognized his slip-up. Whoops.

Oh well. A lie of omission was one thing, but he wasn’t about to start making things up. Might as well go all-in.

He did, however, grab a couple more of the kittens and deposit them in his lap. A kitten shield seemed like it might be useful.

“Ah, right! Captain Nassar!” he said, forcing a light tone of voice. “We arrived here on the same shuttle!”

Brennan’s–yes, Brennan’s. This clearly should have been a professional conversation all along–lips pressed into a thin line.

She was… annoyed. And a little embarrassed. At ‘the zoo employee’ whose name she hadn’t inquired, and at herself for not recognizing one of her captains. Then again, she had a bunch of them. And they usually didn’t come holding guinea pigs.

“I suppose this is the moment you tell me who you are,” Brennan said coolly, but didn’t quite manage her trademark glare–too many kittens.

“I’m Sanjiv Anand, CO of the Babylon and–more importantly–cute animal aficionado.” He scooped a kitten into each hand and held them up to his chest, pointing their powerfully cute faces at Cressida-now-Brennan. Operation Kitten Shield was in full swing. “And on behalf of myself and the whole litter, it is wonderful to meet you!”